Automatic pipe-coupling



G. N. KNAPP.

AUTOMATIC PIPE COUPLiNG.

APIUCAHON FJLED DEC. 10. 1919.

1,378,468. Patented May 17, 1921.

3 SHEEIS-SHEET I.

//v Vin/702 G. N. KNAPP.

AUTOMATIQ'. PIPE COUPLING.

,=vmc.amm man DLC I0. I919.

Patented May 17, 1921 3 SHEHS-SHEET 2.

G. N. KNAPP.

fiLHUMATH) PIPE COUPLING.

Mi'LICAIION FILED DEC. I0. 1919.

1,378,468. P ented May 17, 1921.

3 SHEEYSSHEET 3.

.ER on UNITED STATES GEORGE N. KNAPP, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

.QUTOIATIC PIPE-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 17, 1921.

Application filed December 10, 1919. Serial No. 343,867.

To nll'wim'm it 111 (13 con cern Be it known that I, Gnome N. KNAPP, acitizen of the United States. residing at St. Louis, Missouri, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatic Pipe-(ouplings, of which the following is a full, clear, andexactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to pipe couplings of the kind that are used onrailway cars for automatically coupling the pipes of two adjacent cars.a If he main object of my invention is to provide an eflicient automaticpipe coupling of simple construction that is inexpensive to manufacture,easy to install and of such design that when it is in use an imaginaryvertical line at the center of same will re main in substantiallyvertical alinement with an imaginary vertical line at the center of thecar coupler which carries the complemental parts of the coupling.

Another object is to provide an automatic pipe coupling of ruggedconstruction which is so designed that the complemental parts of samewill be guided accurately into operative engagement with each other,even though said parts are considerably out of alinement horizontallyand"ert-ically when the cars come together.

And still another object is to provide an automatic pipe coupling whichis so constructed that there is little liability of destroying orcutting the gaskets used to form tight joints between the twocomplemental parts of the coupling when said parts come to ether. eigure 1 of the drawings is a side elevational view illustrating myimproved automatic pipe coupling in operative position on the draw barsof two adjacent cars.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the complemental parts of thecoupling and the bracket that carries said part.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of 2,

looking to the left.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the.

complemental parts of the coupling; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the gaskets.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, A and A designate the two complemental parts of the couplingwhich are carried by brackets B and B, respectively, that are connectedto the draw bars C and C, respectively, of two adjacent cars equipped Vwith pipes that are adapted to be connected together by the complementalparts A and A of my improved coupling, said parts A and A being soconstructed and arranged that when they are in operative engagement witheach other an imaginary vertical line at the center of the coupling willremain in substantially vertical alinement with an imaginary verticalline at the center of the car coupler carried by the draw bars C and C,as shown in Fig. 1.

Each of the complemental parts A and A of the coupling comprises a malemember 1 and a female member 2 arranged in the same horizontal plane andso disposed with relation to'each other that the male member 1 projectsforwardly beyond the female member 2. The male member 1 is ofsubstantially frusto-pyramidal shape'in forni and is provided with fourinclined walls that converge toward the front end of said male member.The female member 2 is provided with a socket of substantiallyfrusto-pyramidal form whose internal dimensions are the same as theexternal dimensions of the male member 1 so that when the twocomplemental parts A and A come together the male member on the part Awill enter the female member on the part A and the male member of thepart A will enter the female member of the part A, even though saidparts are out of alinement with each other vertically or horizontally,or vertically and horizontally. In other words, by providing thecomplement-a1 parts of the coupling with cooperating male and femalemembers of substantially rectangular shape in cross section and offrusto-pyramidal form in outline, I insure the parts A and A beingguided into operative engagement with each other, even though one ofsaid parts is higher or lower or at one side of the other part, due, ofcourse, to the fact that the inclined inner sides of the vmale members 1will cooperate with each other to bring the parts A and A into verticalalinement and the inclined top and bottom walls of said male memberswill bear against the corresponding walls of the female members and movesaid parts A and A. into horizontal alinement.

In practice I prefer to form 'each of the complemental parts of thecoupling from a casting and make the male and female members on saidparts in the form of shells so arranged with relation to each other thatthe inner side face of the male member on each part merges into andforms a continuation of the inner side face of the female member of saidpart, as shown in Fig. 5, thus producing a vertically-disposed diagonalsurface that extends unbrokenly from the front end of the male member 1to the rear end of the socket of the female member 2. If desired, thetop and bottom walls of the female member 2 of each complemental part ofthe coupling can be flared slightly, as indicated at 2 in Figs. 4 and 5.

Each of the parts A and A is provided at its rear end with a portion 3to which the sustaining means or supporting means for said :part isconnected. In the form of my invention herein illustrated eachcomplemental part of the coupling is connected to its supporting bracketby a coiled expansion spring 4 that is strong enough to hold said partin a substantially horizontal position in front of the bracket thatconnects. said part to the draw bar, but which has suificientflexibility to permit said part to move slightly relatively to itssupporting bracket when the device 15 in use and when thetwocomplemental parts of the coupling come together. As shown in Fig 3, theportion 3, previously referred to, is provided with a seat 3 for thefront end of the spring 4', the rear end of said spring fitting in aseat 5 in the bracket B that carries the part-A. Said spring 4: isconnected to'said bracket and to the portion 3 by hook-shaped bolts orother suitable retaining devices 6. The spring 4 is held under therequired tension by means of a rod 7 connected to the bracketB andprojecting forwardly from same through the spring 4, said rod beingprovided at its front end with a ball 8 that fits in a socket. in theortion 3 formed by a recess 9 in said portion 3-and a collar 10 that isdetachably connected to said portion 3 by screws or other suitablefastening devices 11, as shown in- F ig. 3. Such a construction permitsthe complemental parts of the coupling to swivel or turn slightly withrelation to the depending brackets on the draw bars that carry saidparts and also move longitudinally slightly relatively to said brackets,but it insures said parts remaining in proper position with relation tothe draw heads on the draw bars.

The coupling can be designed to couple one or more pipes together, thecoupling herein illustrated being so constructed that it willautomatically couple three pipes on one car to three cooperating pipeson an adjacent can. The particular. manner of connecting the pipes tothe car and to the complemental parts A and A of the coupling isimmaterial, but I prefer to provide each of said complemental parts withtwo pipe connecting portions 12 and 13 that prothat two pipes 13 and13can be connected to same, as shown in Fig. 2. One duct or passageway 12is formed in the pipe connection 12 and two ducts 13 are formed in thepipe connection 13 for establishing communication between the pipes 12,13 and 13 and two sets of ports. one of which sets is formed in thefront end of the male member 1 and the other in the rear end wall of thefemale member 2. In Fig. 4 the three ports in the front end of the malemember 1 have been designated by the reference character 8 and the threeports in the rear end wall of the female member 2 have been designatedby the reference character t. By referring to said figure it will benoted that theports of each set are arranged in vertical alinement, oneabove the other. In order to produce tight joints between thecooperating sets of ports in the two complemental parts A and A of thecoupling, gaskets G of rubber or other suitable material are mounted on'the female members 2 of said com'plemental parts in proximity to theports 2% in same, one of said gaskets G being shown in end elevation inFig. 1 and in vertical section in Fig. 3. In practice I prefer toconstruct the gaskets G in the manner shown in Fig. 6, wherein it willbe noted that each gasket is provided with three holes that aresurrounded on one side of the gasket by undercut annular flanges 14 andon the opposite side of the gasket by tapered or feather edged annularflanges 15. The rear end wall of the female member 2 on which the gasketG is mounted is provided with undercut recesses into which the undercutflanges 14 on the gasket can be sprung so as to detachably hold saidgasket in operative position. The ports 3 in the front end of the malemember 1 are made tapered so that they will conform to the shape of thefeather edged flanges 15 of the gasket on the complemental part ofthecoupling. When the two complemental parts A and A of the couplingcome together the tapered ports 8 in the ends of the male. members 1will embrace the feather edged flanges 15 on the gaskets G; and thusproduce tight joints between the cotiperating sets of ports in thecomplemental parts of the coupling. the pressure of the medium thatflows through the pipes which the cou- 'pling joins together beingexerted on the feather edged flanges 15 of the gaskets G in such amanner that it holds said feather edged flanges in snug engagement withthe walls of the tapered ports 8 in the male members 1.- above describedcan be molded easily. from rubber or other suitable material, they canbe installed or removed easily, and as they 5. are arranged in the endsof members which move lengthwise or longitudinally into and out ofengagement with each other, there is no liability of cutting ordestroying the gaskets when the two complemental parts of the couplingcome together. or separate.

After the complemental parts A and A of the coupling have moved intooperative engagement with each other they are automatically lockedtogether by dogs 16 pivot-- ally mounted on the outer side walls of thefemale members 2 and arranged so that they will snap over lugs 16 on theouter side walls of the male members 1. Each complemental part of thecoupling is provided with a dog 16 that is pivotally connected to lugs17 on the outer side wall of the female member 2, said outer wall havinga notch or opening 18 in same through which said dog projects when thecomplemental parts of the coupling are not in engagement with eachother. A spring 19 holds the dog 16 in such a position that it willengage the part with which it cooperates when the cars come together,and each'of the dogs is connected toa chain or other suitable flexibledevice 20 that trips or releases said dog when the cars are uncoupled,the chains 20 being connected to the brackets which carry the parts Aand A and being of such length that they are slack when the parts A andA are in operative engagement, with each other.

The brackets that connect the complemental parts of the coupling to thedraw bars 40 may either be of the form represented by the bracket B inFig. 1, or of the form represented by the bracket 13' in Fig. 1', thebracket B being detachably connected to I the draw bar C and providedwith an integral portion that carries the spring 4 and the guide rod 7,and the bracket B consisting of an integral arm on the draw bar C and aportion 21 detachably connected to said integral arm that carries thespring 4 and the guide rod 7 for the part A of the coupling.

An automatic pipe coupling of the construction above described isinexpensive to manufacture; it is easy to install; it is strong andrugged enough to successfully withstand the shocks and strains to whichdevices of this character are subjected in' service. and it is soconstructed that the complemental parts of same will be accurately 0guided into horizontal and vertical alinement with each other andmaintained in proper relation with the draw heads of the draw barsthat'carry the complemental parts of the coupling. In addition to thedesirable features above pointed out my improved Graskets of theconstruction coupling insures absolutely tight joints between the pipeor pipes which it connects together and it is of such design that thereis no liability of shearing OK the gaskets or cutting or mutilating thegaskets when the complemental parts of the coupling are engaged anddisengaged. I

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is: 1. An automatic pipe coupling, consistingof two complemental parts, each of which comprises a male member and afemale member arranged .in the same horizontal plane with the malemember in advance of 30 the female member. theexterior of said malemember being of substantially frustopyramidal form. a sprihg-pressedlatch mounted on each of said feiiiale members in s an opening in theouter side wall of same, and laterally projecting lugs on the outer sidewalls of said male members that are adapted to enter said openings andbe engaged by said latches whenthe complemen tal parts of the couplingcome together.

.2. An automatic pipe coupling for railway cars, consisting of twocomplemental parts provided with cooperating male and female members.depending brackets on the draw bars of the'cars. horizontally-disposedsprings projecting forwardly from said brackets and connected to saidcomplemental parts. said springs serving as supports for said parts, anda guide. rod projecting foiw wardly from each bracket through the springthereon and provided at its end with a ball which is seated in a socketin the part mounted on the spring.

An automatic pipe coupling for railway cars, consisting of twocomplemental parts. one of which is provided with a tapered male memberand the other having I a tapered female member that receives said malemember, coiiperatiug ports in the front ends of said male member and inthe rear end wallof the socket of said female members, and a gasketinterposed between the portion of said members in which said ports areformed and provided with a feather edged flange that seats snugly in atapered recess in one of said members.

4. An automatic. pipe coupling for.rai'l way cars, consisting of twocomplemental parts provided with cor'iperating male and female members.cooperating ports in said members, and a gasket detachably connected toone of said members and provided with afeather edged flange that isadapted to be embraced by a tapered recess in the other member.

5. An automatic pipe coupling for rail way cars, consisting of twecomplemental parts, one of which is provided with a tapered femalemember! that is adapted to receive a male member cooperating ports 130in the front end of said male member and in the inner end wall of saidfemale member, a gasket detachably connected to one of said members byan undercut flange on the gasket that fits in an undercut recess formedin the part which carries the gasket, and a tapered flange on theopposite side of said gasket that is adapted to be embraced by a taperedrecess in the other member.

6. An automatic pipe coupling for railway cars. consisting of twocomplemental parts, a tapered member on one of said parts provided inits end with a plurality of ports, a tapered female member on the otherpartprovided in its end wall with a plurality of coiiperating ports, agasket provided with a plurality of holes that aline with said (:0-

frusto-pyramidal operating ports, means for detachably connecting saidgasket to said female member,

and feather edged flanges surrounding the holes in said gasket andadapted to cooperate. with tapered recesses in the front end of saidmale member.

7. An automatic pipe coupling for railway cars, consiaing of twocomplemental parts, each of which is composed of a castm pipeconnections that branch laterally in opposite directions from saidspring seat portion, and a male and female member integrally connectedto said pipe connections and being in the form of substantially shapedshells.

GEORGE N. KNAPP.

O 7 having a spring seat port-ion; tubular-shaped

